The allegations of corruption were raised in reports by The Associated Press (AP) news agency....

Jon Liden, a spokesman for the Global Fund, confirmed to the BBC that the misuse of some $34m of funds had been uncovered in nine countries by the Fund's own inspector general, following investigations in 33 of the 145 countries the Fund is active in.

but said in three of those cases it was the Fund's own regular audits which picked up the irregularities, and that they had been made public over previous months by the Fund itself.

He acknowledged that there "are probably more instances of misuse to be uncovered", but said media reports suggesting the sums concerned could amount to billions were likely to be wildly inaccurate....

He said corruption was a "necessary risk"

the Fund had to take when disbursing funds in countries racked by poverty and war, and claimed the Fund had saved more than seven million lives....

A spokesmanfor the German development ministry, Sebastien Lesch, told the BBC that he understood Fund representative Christoph Benn would be visiting the ministry on Monday to explain the situation.

Mr Lesch defended the German decision to suspend the funds, saying the move aimed to safeguard the interests of German taxpayers and denying the ministry had acted hastily.

He said he expected the Fund to clear up the matter, but also pointed out that

using a multilateral agency such as the Fund was not the only way to disburse aid.

"This type of fund which gives the disbursement responsibility to partner governments is